Only 2 other countries hold public executions as U.S. plans first in 90 years
The execution of Nidal Hasan, convicted in the 2009 killings of 13 people at Fort Hood, will be livestreamed, the Defense Department said.
Only Afghanistan and Iran are known to execute individuals publicly in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, according to Amnesty International. Nidal Hasan of the United States will be the first person put to death by firing squad in a public livestream in nearly a century, on December 3rd. Hasan is paralyzed and wheelchair-bound after sustaining back injuries from police during the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 people.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth expressed support for a public execution, stating that people should witness the consequences of such actions. The decision to livestream the execution has received widespread bipartisan criticism, with Republican Senator Thom Tillis calling it "disgusting." The last public executions in the U.S. took place in the mid-1930s, with Rainey Bethea and Roscoe Red Jackson both hanged in 1936.
Iran, a country accused of human rights violations, has also carried out public executions, with at least 24 people executed this year, including those involved in anti-government protests.
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